Strong shopper turnout expected — online and in-store — Saturday, Dec. 23
It’s not called Super Saturday for nothing.
Nearly 142 million consumers plan to shop on Dec. 23, according to the latest survey from the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Prosper Insights & Analytics. That’s up significantly from the last time Super Saturday fell on Dec. 23, when 126 million consumers were expected to shop on that day in 2017, according to the NRF.
In recent years, Super Saturday has grown into one of retail’s biggest shopping days — if not the biggest. The day ranked second on Sensormatic’s 2023 list of predicted busiest shopping days in the U.S. (Black Friday took the top spot.)
With Super Saturday taking place only two days before Christmas this year, more consumers are planning to purchase last-minute gifts and other holiday items in-person. Approximately 53 million (37%) of Super Saturday shoppers expect they will shop exclusively in stores this year, up from about 44 million (28%) last year, and 58 million (41%) plan to shop both online and in stores. About 22% plan to shop exclusively online.
Popular destinations where consumers will finish their holiay shopping include online (49%), department stores (38%), discount stores (28%), clothing and accessories stores (26%) and grocery stores (19%). So far, the top gifts consumers have purchased include clothing (50%), toys (34%), gift cards (27%), books and other media (24%) and personal care or beauty items (23%).
As of early December, holiday shoppers have picked up about half (49%) of the items on their lists. For those who still have more than half of their shopping remaining, over one-third (36%) say they are still figuring out what to buy.
Also, consumers may also be waiting for the best deals. In November, 85% of Thanksgiving weekend shoppers said they expected the deals during the rest of the holiday season to be the same or better than Thanksgiving weekend.
“This year Super Saturday is truly aligned for last-minute shoppers,” said Prosper Insights & Analytics executive VP of strategy Phil Rist said. “A majority of consumers also plan on purchasing their last gift in the week leading up to Christmas.”
Holiday shopping will continue through the end of December and into early January. Most consumers (70%) say they plan to shop in the week following Dec. 25. The top reasons consumers shop then are to take advantage of holiday sales and promotions (48%), use gift cards (26%) and return or exchange unwanted gifts and holiday items (16%).
The survey asked 7,973 adult consumers about their holiday shopping plans. It was conducted Dec. 1-6 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.1 percentage points.
NRF expects holiday spending will reach record levels during November and December and will grow between 3% and 4% over 2022, totaling $957.3 billion to $966.6 billion, according to NRF’s holiday forecast. By comparison, last year holiday sales totaled $929.5 billion.